Featured Instructor Interview: Nick Nicholson

This month’s Featured Instructor, the Nicholson Group, provides organizational development services to public and private sector law enforcement and security clients. In a few weeks, we’ll introduce the Group’s Assessing Your Personality, a course designed to help students better understand their own personality style, better recognize personality styles in others, and adapt their communication strategies appropriately. For law enforcement officers and investigators, developing this knowledge will increase success in interviews, field interactions, and with fellow officers.  We recently sat down with the principal of the Nicholson Group, Nick Nicholson, to discuss the course and how it fits on Law Enforcement Learning:

Law Enforcement Learning: Why do law enforcement officers need this course?

Nicholson: The ability to effectively communicate goes well beyond simple dialog or the ability to “read” the non-verbal aspects of communication associated with the day to day law enforcement activities. The DISC Personality Assessment tool provides a universal language of observable human behavior, or “how we act”. DISC does not measure education, experience, values or intelligence. It simply measures an individual’s behaviors, or how they communicate more effectively with others. With the knowledge of DISC, you can learn to understand and appreciate your behavior style, and then adapt your style in communication with others. In fact, you can change the golden rule. Rather than treating others as you would want to be treated, you can treat others the way they want to be treated.

The results of your DISC assessment will reveal your high and low placement in each of the four dimensions that make up your their unique natural and adapted behavioral styles.

Law Enforcement Learning: Why should they get this information from you?

Nicholson: The DISC assessment has become a popular means to help organizations improve communication among employees, first-line supervisors and senior leadership. I’ve administered over 2,500 assessments and provided feedback for improvement to dozens of organizations in both the private and public sectors. Past course evaluations are rated excellent and more importantly, this course encourage participants to take advantage of a 30 minute one-on-one consultation with the instructor during the course. During the consultation you have the opportunity to discuss any aspect of DISC and how you might better be able to apply the skills you learned during the course.

Law Enforcement Learning: If people are interested in this subject, where can they go for more?

Nicholson: Over the years continued research on DISC has produced a wide variety of products related to team building, performance assessment, senior leadership selection, sales and performance improvement. The Nicholson Group, LLC has worked closely with Select, Assess and Train, an organization specializing in assisting clients in selecting the right tool for the right application. For further information contact: Gail Houck here.

Assessing Your Personality will open soon in the Law Enforcement Learning marketplace – check back here or on Facebook, Google +, or Twitter for a launch announcement.